Newport Bus Shelters

Over the course of the fall I worked with Wright Deter on another set of bus shelters for RIPTA, this time for the city of Newport, installed at the Newport Heights and Miantonomi Park bus stops. As with the shelters we installed a year ago at Olneyville Square in Providence, these were made entirely of aluminum. The plan called for a masonry element to complement the stone wall and tower in the background at Miantonomi Park which turned out beautifully.

My role: fabrication, assembly, and installation.

The Bear: Inner Matrix

After the bear returned from the powder-coater a shade of Brower's signature blue, it was time construct the inner matrix. This consists of a series of hand bent stainless steel wires fastened to the outside frame with modified hardware, then expanded to fill the entire form. From this dense nest of wire a series of objects are suspended to provide a narrative that reflects the natural setting. Here are the objects before becoming part of the bear, all of which are cast metal--aluminum, iron, or bronze:



Here's a close up view of the inner matrix. The impression is difficult to convey with photographs. There are hundreds of lengths of wire connected seamlessly with over a thousand cable clamps and cramped ends. High tension was necessary within each connection to prevent any damage that could occur during shipping or over its life span in Kelowna. Since the bear will be hoisted on up on ten foot tall columns and lit with flood lights, this is close to what it will look like when pedestrians cross underneath its belly:
And though it is meant to be experienced in open air so that light flows through and the inner matrix with its cast objects can be seen more clearly, here is a photo of the finished sculpture:

Work in Progress: Big Bear!

The latter half of 2009 was spent at Mid-Ocean Studio working on another large piece of public art. This time, under the guidance of Wright Deter I helped build a 10 foot tall Grizzly Bear for a newly revamped public park in Kelowna, British Columbia.


The first step to fabrication was to build a platform on which a grid was drawn. Though the grid is hard to make out you can see the platform in the following picture. (Thats me finishing the welding from the inside...)


To achieve the contour and continuity of live shape the Bear was built one rod length at a time according to engineer specified drawings and measurements.

Each point of convergence is a 1/2 inch thick steel washer connecting rods, which have been pre-cut to the engineers specifications. (These are the dark spots where the rods meet).





First I measure out the 'x' and 'y' dimensions on the plywood grid and mark the spot. To find the 'z' dimension, that is, the point's place in three-dimensional space, we modified some tools. Vice grips were fused to a speed rail fitting. These fittings slide onto a pole that is drilled into the ground near the specified point. In the following picture Wright is finishing up the Bear's face, and is surrounded by those poles which all represent different points of convergence:

...a washer is clamped into a vice grip and that fitting is moved up and down the pole to find the correct height, then manipulated to agree with the contours of the bear's body. Once one of the washers is in place or "floating" we bring in a piece of steel rod custom cut to fill the space between the existing and floating washers. That rod is "tacked" in, that is, lightly welded into place so that we can confirm or tweak its position before moving on to the next piece. Once the whole form was pieced together I began the process of finishing/filling in all of these welds. Over 350 points of convergence.

Building three-dimensionally was a painstaking process but quite rewarding as the shape of the bear came together. Once all the tack welds were beefed up and the body securely assembled, it was sent to a powder coater to be painted and readied for the next phase: the inner matrix.

Cakewalk Then and Now

In 2007 I was insanely fortunate to experience my first Burning Man festival as a member of the Flight2Mars crew. My main focus was work on Cakewalk, an extraordinary mutant vehicle described as...

...in execution our cake was near flawless. Nothing could match the looks on the faces of the broken down souls we would pick up on our way to the trash fence at sunrise. We made it a practice to sneak up quietly behind loners watching and waiting for first light and were invariably met with wide-eyed, unadulterated, joy--as well as a new addition to our cake-top roving party.

After a one year hiatus Cakewalk is back! The F2M crew will be camping with Area 47 and we'll bringing our big fat burning desert dessert with us!

Work in Progress: The Links Hole 4

This past week was spent framing and flooring Hole 4 for The Links, a miniature golf course designed by Sam White.


"The Links: Fearless Mobile Mini Golf" is a modular miniature golf course owned and operated by Wooly Productions (web site forthcoming). This is the fourth of what will soon be a nine hole course for use at YOUR event!

Here are some progress shots:

"Showing the Way," the Tillie Fowler Memorial

"Showing the Way" is a steel sculpture designed by Brower Hatcher, fabricated and assembled at Mid Ocean Studio by Wright Deter and myself, and installed in Jacksonville, FL by the three of us.

The piece is a representation of an oak tree, meant to symbolize the devotion and service of Tillie Fowler, a Florida legislator whose civic service as a Jacksonville city council president and later as a Florida state congresswoman inspired the people of Jacksonville to commission this work.



I have to mention that the Jacksonville Cultural Council quite an impressive organization. Its not easy for civic bodies to reach a working consensus in matters of the arts. It was obvious that a lot of sweat, and a lot of heart, went into making this Art happen. Sandy Silverstein, our liaison during the installation was devoted to the cause from beginning to end in every way imaginable. The setting (including landscaping and hardscaping) was beautifully managed, and the public reaction to the work was overwhelmingly positive as well. This isn't always the case in public art.

Here are some shots from the installation.

The Precession at Firehouse 13

Two weeks ago I was asked by Firehouse13 to aid in the production of a theater event entitled "The Precession". Two performance artists and art/literature professors from Chicago would be staying in providence for one week and using that time to discuss, write, and perform a short play at the Firehouse. My role involved some promotion, brainstorming, a bit of design and light carpentry. Mark Jeffery and Judd Morrisey recently closed out long careers with the Goat Island Performance Group a Chicago based theater group. And sought to continue their own collaboration through smaller works.

While Mark focused on organizing and directing the resources made available to him through our community, Judd introduced an element of text to the performance that was both unique and elegant. (A sample of Judd's hypertext prowess: thelastperformance.org) In the space of six days the two performers were able to assemble a team of actors, artists, and aspiring playwrights and produce a singular dramatic event incorporating astronomoy, astrology, dust bowl era music, recession fears, Twitter, and a creepy but well-deployed horse mask to entertain a packed house.

The Firehouse had asked me to facilitate the performers' comfort and help them realize their vision for Friday's performance. In the end this meant turning brainstorming sessions into objects that could be used during the performance:



An AV trolley to be moved throughout the show for the purpose of projecting hypertext written by Judd on to the walls behind the performers

A rotating stage big enough for one (1) astronomer (wood, plastic casters)

And a recreation of the monumental sculpture Winged Figures of the Republic from the Hoover dam...


...using PVC, cloth, bar stools, and Mark and Judd dressed in Depression era clothing (pic. forthcoming).

The props themselves were quite simple. The real joy in this project was watching how Mark and Judd turned simple things into sources of wonder.
(video forthcoming...)